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The National Mission for Manuscripts has identified manuscripts with unique heritage value and designated them as Manuscript Treasures of India. Manuscripts are selected for their outstanding value to humanity and also for their contribution to Indian life, development of Indian thought and culture or simply for the history they may represent (local history of a region, perhaps).

The recognition seeks to sensitize archivists and collectors on the value of these resources and the need to preserve them.

Selection of Manuscripts as Vijñānanidhi: Treasures of India

The selection of manuscripts as treasures is by no means an exhaustive, but only an indicative exercise. While it does not aim to create a hierarchical status between those selected as treasures and others, the selection committee adopted the following criteria:

Excellence as heritage

Contribution to India’s intellectual history

Vulnerability

Belonging to ancient or medieval past

Measures for Safeguarding

The most important consequence of such a declaration would be that these manuscripts would be given special protective measures including :

Providing adequate space and infrastructure for their storage

Taking up preventive and curative conservation

Protecting the knowledge content through digitization

Transcribing for more copies in the case of rare manuscripts

Taking up critical editions, research and publication based on these manuscripts

Manuscript Treasures of India

The following manuscripts have been selected as ‘Vijñānanidhi – Manuscript Treasures of India’: